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The day had been pretty quiet; after enough bitching from Debbie, Carl agreed to pick up Franny from school. He decided to take her the long way back so they'd go past the park and she could play for a few minutes before they'd make their way back to the horror house.
After stopping by to get the Ice-cream that Franny demanded, they reach the park. They're only a block away from the house, but the longer they're away, the better. Carl stands by watching Franny on the slide; he doesn't expect to hear someone shout at him from across the lot on the other side of the street.
Carl turns around to see a group of guys making their way over, one of them looking painfully familiar. He turns back to Franny, making sure she's still in sight. He's able to see her in the jungle gym playing with another little girl.
The group is a mere couple of yards away, with 3 out of 5 armed; unfortunately for Carl, he isn't.
"Yo! It's white boy Carl. Shit, man, we haven't seen you for a while. Whatchu up to these days?" The frontman 'Dodge' being the first to speak.
"Sup Dodge, not much man, just regular southside shit. You?"
"That's good, that's good because I was starting to think you'd forgotten about us. It hurts Gallagher; it really does."
Carl is beginning to sweat, more worried about Franny than himself, so he picks his following words carefully.
"Course not, just keeping my nose clean, you know."
"Ah, of course, you had that rich geezer pay your way out. It's a shame really you ran well with us. You were built for this white boy Carl; you proved that when we were inside with you running the joint. And now you're what? Hanging around children's playgrounds? Not a good look, Gallagher."
Carl refuses to let them know that he's here with Franny, so he says the first thing that comes to mind.
"Nah, just passing through to get home, and I had a change of perspective, so I got out."
"I hate to do this to you, Carl. Really, I do; I actually like you. However, the boss wanted us to make sure you knew your place if we saw you again. You don't get out unscathed; surely you knew that."
He knows he can't run and leave Franny behind, yet he also can't just do nothing and let Franny watch as he has the shit kicked out of him. He could always make a break for it and shout to Franny to run home. It is only a block away... Fuck Debbie's going to kill him for this.
Carl sprints to a fence that caught his eye and turns his head back to shout to Franny.
"FRANNY, RUN HOME NOW!!!"
Luckily he notices Franny following his instructions, and none of the group breaking off to follow her. Just as he goes to jump the fence, a hand grabs the back of his shirt and yanks him onto the floor. Each time he tries to get back up, he receives another kick to the back, stomach, or face.
He's not quite sure how much time has passed, but he knows at least one thing is broken right now. Through slightly dazed and blurry-eyed, Carl notices someone approaching. As they get closer, he soon realises that it's actually two people running over, and non-other than Mickey and Ian. Carl swears he only closed his eyes for a second, but by the time they're open again, he's lying on the couch at home.
His first thought is-
"Franny?" At least he tries to anyone else; the word is hard to hear. He tries to sit up slightly before he's pushed back down again.
"Stay down Gallagher, they really did a number on you. Firecrotch says you've got a concussion, at least one broken rib, and a fuck tonne of bruising, kid."
"M'ckey?"
"That's me, kid."
"Whrs Frny?"
"She's fine, ran through the door and told Ian you told her to run home. He asked where you were and when she said the park, we both came to find you."
"Get some rest, Gallagher, but when you wake up, you're gonna tell us exactly what the fuck happened."
"M'kay."
By the time Carl comes to, the sun has set, and he seems to be alone. The first thing he notices is the pain in his side and head as he tries to sit up. He doesn't see when someone comes to his side pushing on his shoulder, but he doesn't resist, instead deciding to lay back down.
"Woah, slow down. You shouldn't move just yet. Hang on, I'll grab you some water." Ah, so it's Ian.
"'M not a pussy, grab me a beer or something. Besides, the water still tastes rusty."
Ian chuckles to himself before going to the kitchen to grab them both a beer.
"Yeah yeah, here you go, now what the fuck happened, Carl?"
"How was Franny when she got back? She wasn't scared or hurt, right?"
"No, she was okay. I think she thought you were playing, to be honest, and we wouldn't have thought much of it until she said that you shouted at her to run home."
"I didn't know what else to do, I didn't want to put her in danger, but I also couldn't leave her there with no instruction, so I ran and shouted to her. I had to look back to make sure none of them went after her, but they just wanted me."
"Why were they even after you?" Before he even got the chance to reply, Lip storms in red-faced and visibly shaking.
"That's a good fucking question. What the fuck have you done now, Carl?"
"Hey! Cool it, he's not long woken up."
"I don't give a fuck; Franny could have seriously been hurt because of you, Carl. You do realise that, right? Once again, you fucked up, and other people had to step in."
"You think I don't know that! It's not like I asked for this. Step down off your fucking pedestal and quit acting like I'm the only person in this family to ever fuck up!"
"Well, you certainly don't have the best track record! Juvie for a year, running drugs before and after your stint inside. Bringing a guy back with you to live in our house who then murdered a kid, not to mention all the psychotic shit you pulled as a child! It doesn't matter your story because it all comes from the same place, you being a fuck up. Just like Frank!"
Carl just sits there staring blankly ahead, letting the words roll over him, acting like the words have no effect. The fact that his own brother compared him to their alcoholic, drug-addicted, abusive father.
Nobody even notices when Mickey walks in though he must have been there a while because he looks livid.
"The fuck did you just say to him?" Lip doesn't reply, slightly taken aback by how furious Mickey looks. Getting in Lips' face, he holds his stare.
"I said. What. The. Fuck. Did. You. Just. Say. To. Him?"
Ian seems to decide it's as good a time as any to intervene.
"Lip, go home and don't come back until you gain some perspective and not act like the sun shines out of your ass."
He just scoffs before glaring at them all and storming out, slamming the door hard enough to make the house shake.
"I didn't know this was going to happen, I swear. I was just picking Franny up from school, and we took a detour to get Ice-cream and go to the park for a while. I didn't ask for this, you know that, right?!"
Carls looking at both Mickey and Ian as if he's expecting the same reaction as the one he got from Lip.
Mickey sighs at the apparent internal battle going on in Carl's head.
"Of course we know that; you protected Franny. Ignore Lip; the guy is an asshole on the best of days. Now, are you going to tell us why they were after you?"
They're both looking at him expectantly and with something akin to concern.
"They were part of the gang I ran drugs for apparently when I got out, I did so without any consequences. The boss told them if they saw me again to make sure I knew that's not how it works."
"Shit, kid. Well, they definitely did a number on you. Sorry, we couldn't get to you sooner."
"I know I'm a fuck up, you know? Like I get it, I screw up, and I'm dumb, but that's not all I am."
"You're not a fuck up, and you're not dumb. Lip had no right to say that shit to you. He's not exactly a model citizen himself. He also can't talk on Juvie because, unlike me, you, and Mickey, the closest he's seen to an actual prison cell is the station."
"Right. Lip acts like it's such a walk in the park inside. Whenever it's bought up, he acts like me; being in there for 11 months is no big deal. I mean, I got back, and nobody was even home. Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming you; you had your own shit going on at the time, being crazy and shit. But Fiona? Lip? Hell, even fucking Debbie? I tried to talk to him about something that happened while inside, and he just laughed at me, saying he thought I ran the joint while I was there. I'm not gonna lie, I did have a pretty high status inside, but that doesn't change shit."
They sit in silence for a while; Ian looks like he's contemplating what to say next before eventually breaking the silence.
"I'm not going to sit here and defend them; someone should have been here for you. Hell, Fiona should have picked you up herself. Still, all 3 of us know that trying to explain to someone who has never seen the inside of a cell is like describing colour to a blind person."
Mickey just nods along to what Ian says, but they're all obviously tired at this point.
"Thanks, both of you, for earlier in the park and with Lip. I'm exhausted, so I think I'm gonna grab some pain meds and head to bed."
"I'll help you up the stairs, and Mick, can you grab the meds?"
"Sure, firecrotch, see you upstairs in a few."
By the time the pain medication kicked in, Carl is pretty much dead to the world, him on the bed under the window and Liam on the bunk.
It gets to around 3am before Carl starts shifting in his sleep, unaware of the nightmare soon to trap his mind.
He's been looking for Franny for the past 30 minutes with no luck. Why was he looking for her again? What were they doing? Hide and Seek? His train of thought was broken by the piercing scream of a woman. He's not sure what makes him investigate; after all, it's the south side people scream regularly. Still, he goes to search for the owner of the scream bringing him to the gate of a house.
"Nick? What you doing here, man I-" Carl cuts himself off as soon as he hears the scream again and notices the bloodied hammer in front of Nick on the floor next to the black and gold bike he obsessed over.
"Dude, what did you do?"
"Cops have been called Carl; you should leave."
Realistically Carl knows what actually happened next, and it's not whatever fucked up twisted image his mind conjured this time.
Ignoring Nick, Carl slowly makes his way into the house, barely making it inside before being hit with the overwhelming smell of iron. Looking down, he notices the red matted ginger hair first the next is the mangled face of a child he knew well-
The next thing Carl knew, he bolted up gasping and sweaty with Mickey next to him, calling his name, but nothing was registering.
"Mickey? What-"
"Kid, you're alright; calm down for me. Liam came to get Ian but accidentally woke me instead. He said he would have woken you himself, but apparently since you got out of Juvie, you're more of a punch first look second kind of guy when someone wakes you up."
Carl is finally starting to get his bearings again, but his nightmare still burned into his mind.
"Yeah... haven't quite been able to shake that habit yet."
"Carl, it's fine. I get it; you don't need to justify yourself to me. I think Liam just didn't want to go to school with a blackeye and have them start asking questions."
"I need some air." He's still slightly shaking but still gets up, grabbing his stash on his way out of the room.
"I'll join you if that's alright; need a smoke anyway, I'll grab us a beer."
Carl just nods before heading out the front door.
After a few minutes of silence, Carl has joint rolled, and Mickey is back with the beers.
"I didn't wake anyone else, right?"
"Nah, Ian was still flat out, and Lip never came back after everything kicked off earlier. Not sure where your other sister is, but Debbie was sleeping too.
"Alright, good, that's good."
"Wanna tell me what happen that freaked you out enough to wake up screaming?"
Carl cringed at the thought of telling Mickey what his nightmare was about but knew it was probably for the best. Even if it's a way to change the image of Franny that was on constant replay in his head back to the original victim.
"Just shit that Lip said earlier bought some stuff back that I wanted to forget. My head just twisted shit that actually happened with shit that didn't"
"What this about? Juvie?"
"Not directly, no, more about the guy that I bought back who stayed with us for a while."
"The one that killed the kid? Nick, right?"
"Yeah, Nick, he was basically a kid himself mentally, I mean. He'd spent all of his adolescents and preteen years in the joint, so he never really grew up. Heard not too long ago he was killed inside, crimes against kids and that."
"Yeah, I doubt that would have gone over well. Why did he do it? Kill the kid, I mean."
"He had this bike before he went inside. His dad was an abusive piece of shit which was why he was inside as long as he was anyway. Killed him when he was 10 all over this damn bike. I'm guessing it was just his last straw, but his dad gave the bike away, and he killed him for it. I was making bank when I got out, you know? Nick saw the same style and colour bike he used to have in a shop window, so I bought it for him, I thought it would make him happy, and it did for a while until this kid stole it. Nick started to get all twisted up on respect and wouldn't let it go, so we looked for the bike. I found it outside a shop, so I went looking for him, and while I was I heard this woman screaming. Followed it to a house where I saw Nick just sitting on the steps covered in blood, bloodied hammer on the floor in front of him, and next to it was the same black and gold bike. I walked past him and went inside. Mick, he slaughtered this kid, literally bashed his head in a child that couldn't have been older than 11 over a bike that the kid didn't even steal. He just happened to have the same one. Except in my dream, it wasn't some random kid that I didn't know it was Franny."
Mickey stayed silent throughout the entire story trying to keep a straight face. Still, you could tell he was horrified at what was being said. Once he mentioned the kid in his dream was Franny, Mickey sighed in sympathy, putting his hand on Carl's shoulder. He had yet to stop shaking, even with the joint calming him slightly.
"There's not really anything I can say in this situation, but you need to know that it wasn't your fault. Not what happened yesterday and not what happened with Nick. Think you can get back to sleep? You can probably have more pain meds now."
"Yes to meds, no to sleep, think I 'm just gonna stay out here for a while, feel free to go back to bed though sorry I woke you."
"You don't need to apologise. I'll grab you the meds, then I'm heading up. Don't stay out here too long; you still need sleep."
Once Mickey gave him the pills and said night before heading up. It clicked to Carl that he was now alone, and with that, he broke down. Crying and sobbing until the sun came up, but nobody would see him because it's weakness and Carl isn't weak.